Collaborative Research: 3D Gaze Control for Assistive Robots

PI: Zhang, Xiaoli and Nelson, Carl a .提案号：1264496 & 1264504本研究的目的是开发一种新颖的3D凝视控制系统，直观地将老年人或残疾人与机器人助手连接起来。交流将通过3D凝视作为机器人控制信号进行。我们将专注于日常生活的基本活动，包括为用户检索物体，将物体从一个地方移动到另一个地方，使个人能够独立生活。主要工作包括：(1)基于实验数据的眼睛建模与仿真的三维凝视估计研究；(2)研究和开发3D凝视控制框架，使目标选择相对于现实世界，日常物体上执行辅助任务；(3)建立凝视控制平台，对所提出的具有广泛辅助机器人应用的三维凝视控制模型进行测试和评估。智力优势：该项目为机器人助手研究了一种新颖的3D凝视控制概念，目的是提高因疾病或衰老而运动受损的人的独立水平。提出了一种新的凝视控制模型，利用凝视提取的特征引导机器人进行目标识别和操作，实现简单自然的人机交互。最后，该项目寻求开发一种新的3D凝视估计系统，以确保准确性和可靠性，目前尚未得到很好的探索。该项目旨在为广泛的机器人辅助应用提供解决方案。更广泛的影响：通过将3D凝视作为控制信号引入老年人或残疾人与机器人助手之间的交流，本项目更广泛的影响是为运动障碍人士建立一个简单自然的控制界面，提高他们的生活独立性。残障人士，特别是威尔克斯大学的残障学生，将积极参与拟议工作的发展，包括以访谈、调查的形式提供反馈，并参与工作系统的测试和评估。结果、成果、软件工具、基准和教育材料将通过项目网站以及通过期刊和会议出版物传播。威尔克斯大学正在开发并教授一门关于辅助机器人技术的新课程。

PI: Zhang, Xiaoli and Nelson, Carl A.Proposal Number: 1264496 & 1264504The objective of this research is to develop a novel 3D gaze control system to intuitively connect elderly or disabled people with robotic assistants. The communication will take place through a 3D gaze as the robot control signal. We will focus on basic Activities of Daily Living, including retrieving an object to the user, and moving an object from one place to another, which enable the individual to live independently. Tasks include: (1) a study of 3D gaze estimation based on eye modeling and simulation with experimental data; (2) investigation and development of a 3D gaze control framework to enable the target selection relative to real-world, everyday objects on which assistive tasks are performed; (3) establishment of a gaze control platform for testing and evaluating the proposed 3D gaze control model with a wide range of assistive robot applications.Intellectual Merit: The project investigates a novel 3D gaze control concept for robotic assistants with the goal of increasing the level of independence for motor impaired people due to diseases or senescence. The research also proposes a novel gaze control model which uses gaze-extracted features to guide a robot for object identification and operation, achieving simple and natural human-robot interaction. Finally, the project seeks to develop a novel 3D gaze estimation system to ensure accuracy and reliability, which is currently not well explored. This project seeks to provide solutions for a wide spectrum of robotic assistive applications.Broader Impacts: By introducing 3D gaze as the control signal into communication between elderly or disabled people and robotic assistants, the broader impacts of this project are to build a simple and natural control interface to motor impaired people and increase the level of living independence. Persons with disabilities, especially students with disabilities at Wilkes University, will be actively involved in the development of the proposed work including feedback in the form of interviews, surveys, and participation in testing and evaluating the working system. Results, outcomes, software tools, benchmarks, and educational materials will be disseminated through a project web site, as well as through journal and conference publications. A new course on assistive robotic technology is being developed and taught at Wilkes University.